San Francisco

I can’t believe this has taken me almost four months to get through my photos of San Francisco. This is the final post of our adventures in this wonderful city. We went back to the Ferry Building Marketplace to eat at The Slanted Door, which serves delicious Vietnamese food. Prices are fair and we loved the broccolis and Vietnamese crêpe, as well as the salad with cantaloupe. So many flavours happening at once! We walked in the charming neighbourhood of Pacific Heights (hello all of the pretty houses) and stopped along the way to eat at b. patisserie and do some shopping at March, and insanely beautiful store providing items for the kitchen, pantry and table. Of course, we couldn’t leave San Francisco without enjoying a view of the city, so we walked up to Pioneer Park and ended the day strolling in Russian Hills.
San Francisco, you have been so good to us. We’ll be back! x

Still onto San Francisco… (second to last post!). We were lucky to have an amazing weather (read: sunny) for our third day. In the morning, we went to the Ferry Building Marketplace, which is an amazing outdoor and indoor food market. We snacked on fresh and organic fruits (plumcots, apricots, etc.), fresh bread, earl grey ice cream and yummy tacos from Tacolicious. The fruits and veggies are so good looking, I wish I could live there all year long just to eat them! My sister forced me to visit the Fisherman’s Wharf (please get me out of that place -_-), but fortunately we didn’t stay super long and moved on to visit the Palace of Fine Arts, the iconic Golden Gate Bridge and Sutro Baths.

One of this trip’s highlights is, without a doubt, our dinner at Chez Panisse, Alice Waters’ restaurant in Berkeley. For those who don’t know, she’s the pioneer of the cooking based on fresh, local and organic produce. Needless to say that we were all thrilled, and what a feast! The lettuce comes to the table still crunchy, as if it was picked from the garden a few seconds ago. I am at a loss for words to describe our experience, which I count in my top 3 restaurants. It’s so worth it and I’m happy I could finally tick this place off of my to go list.

Hello world! Here’s my second photo diary of San Francisco (sorry for being late on all those travel posts, ugh). Summer is very chilly in SF and as much as I enjoyed my stay over there, trying to overcome the cold is difficult if you don’t dress accordingly. We strolled on the streets of several neighbourhoods: Hayes Valley, Noe Valley, The Castro, Haight-Ashbury… All such lovely areas with beautifully coloured houses and steep streets. I’m wondering how they can bike in this city…?

We started off the day with a light yet lovely breakfast at 20th Century Cafe and as we walked, we stumbled across a beautiful pop-up shop mixing both flower and clothing designs. We ended up having lunch in a delicious café and I’m still dreaming about their amazing farro and baby kale salad… (insert crying emoji). But the best part was, without a doubt, the Golden Gate Park. It is so huge and beautiful, with lots of walking paths, a greenhouse, amazing wildlife and giant trees. Unfortunately, the de Young Museum was closed, but it’s an architectural gem (especially for someone like me who’s obsessed with lines) and I wish we had more time to sneak in the California Academy of Sciences.

On another note, I came across a funny article in the Huffington Post titled « The Differences between living in New York and San Francisco ». Can’t decide which city I love the most!

It was love at first sight between me and San Francisco, but oh don’t get me started with the tricky weather. I was wearing a dress on my first day, because I was telling myself: « It’s gonna get warmer. We’re California after all. » So. Damn. Wrong. It is surprisingly cold during summer, so as everyone would tell you, wear layers.

We spent the first day exploring The Mission District, which has strong Hispanic influences. There were so many grocery stores on the streets and we couldn’t stop ourselves from buying organic and locally grown fruits (apricots, plums, strawberries, name it!). They taste so damn good compared to the ones we find in Montreal! I was amazed, seriously nothing beats seasonal produce. As we walked in the area, we stopped on our way to admire beautiful street art on Balmy Street and grab a cup of coffee at Philz Coffee. San Francisco is so charming and lovely. I fell in love with its steep hills, the colourful houses, the succulents found on the streets, the people and the abundance of bougainvilleas. On Valencia Street, we visited many cute cafés, restaurants and design shops (so basically we ate, sipped warm drinks and lingered in the boutiques the whooole day). It was really inspiring to discover the local spots and I wrote down a few favourites (well those that I could remember :/).

Where should I begin? I think I left part of my heart in Sutro Baths and I couldn’t wait to share this gorgeous place. Sutro Baths was a large public swimming pool built by Adolph Sutro, a former mayor of San Francisco. Financially unprofitable at that time, it’s mostly all in ruins now, but what makes it unique is its location: it’s right by the sea at the north end of Ocean Beach. It’s a bit remote from the city itself and fortunately, few people/tourists know about it (many thanks to K for the rec!). Nearby Sutro Baths is Lands End, another stunning park where one can enjoy breathtaking views, admire the wildflowers and walk on the trails. Our visit was planned ahead because I wanted to get the best light of the day, hence we waited until 6pm to get there. It was worth it! I feel like I sound like a broken record, but there’s really something magical about the light on the west coast that I cannot put my finger on. I felt so blessed to be able to experience this moment: the view, the chilly wind, the sound of the waves crashing against the rocks, the golden hour… I’ll never forget it.

I took countless photos, so sorry for the overload. They don’t do justice to the beauty of Sutro Baths and Lands End, which is hands down one of my highlights in San Francisco. It gave me a little peek of what was waiting for us on the Pacific Coast Highway and I was thrilled.